Although we traveled together in France,
We were strangers,
Two women from Minnesota,
Irritating each other into silence.

She told me many things.
(Some, I believed.)

In Cambodia, the Khmer Rouge
Forced her family to flee,

Those who weren't already dead.
In the old days--
They were privileged royalty,
(she said)
Of Chinese extraction.
She searched for frogs for her father to eat,
But he died of starvation.
A fat white scar reveals itself
On the crown of her head
When her hair moves away.

She became an honors student,

Learned French and English quickly
And dreamed of marrying
A rich and generous man
Now she wonders if she would be
A good Corporate Wife.